Come Away With Me
by Sarah1281
Summary: To a spying Obi-Wan's complete shock, Padmé manages to convince Anakin to abruptly quit the Sith and run away with her. Just like that. With no regrets. After killing all those younglings. Can he even do that?


Come Away With Me

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars.

Note: The dialogue at the beginning is from the movie. I think you'll know when I diverge from it.

Obi-Wan was well-aware that it was considered at the very height of rudeness to steal aboard the ship of a friend and ally and when Padmé found out their relationship might never be the same. Still, the situation was dire and she hadn't seen fit to mention that she was pregnant by Anakin (and probably dating him) so he figured that they were about even.

Padmé had left the ship as rapidly as she could in her condition (it was remarkable how she hadn't seemed at all pregnant when he had last seen her a week ago and now looked fit to burst) and Anakin came out to meet her.

He didn't _look_ like an evil child-killer but Obi-Wan had seen the holorecording. He could only hope that if Anakin lived then he'd be more outwardly evil soon so as to cut down on misunderstandings.

"Padmé, I saw your ship," Anakin told her, puzzled. He embraced the senator.

"Oh, Anakin!" Padmé exclaimed, at a loss for words.

"It's alright, you're safe now," Anakin promised her. What he thought she was in danger of outside of his master's plotting was beyond him. "What are you doing out here?" And while Obi-Wan had expected she'd know where to find Anakin, he wasn't quite sure of _how_.

"I was worried about you," Padmé confessed hesitantly. "Obi-Wan told me terrible things."

"What things?" Anakin demanded. Was he honestly unaware of the scope of his crimes or was he merely curious about which of his various atrocities that Obi-Wan had chosen to relate? He rather hoped that it was the latter and that Anakin wasn't _that_ far gone.

"He said that you had turned to the dark side…that you killed younglings," Padmé whispered, horrified.

"Obi-Wan is trying to turn you against me," Anakin said flatly.

Obi-Wan hoped that it was significant that Anakin hadn't chosen to deny either charge and it wasn't just a matter of not caring.

"He cares about us," Padmé insisted. Oh, _now_ she believed that.

" 'Us'?" Anakin aksed dangerously. It might have just been a figure of speech but Anakin was taking no chances.

Padmé nodded. "He knows…he wants to help you…"

He did, true, but he didn't really believe that it was possible. Not after what Anakin had done.

And it was remarkable how caught up in themselves they were that they hadn't noticed his pretty blatant spying. It was a good thing, though, as once they saw him a fight would inevitably break out. Evil or not, Padmé was pregnant and Anakin claimed to love her and so there was a chance – maybe – that he wouldn't hurt her.

Obi-Wan's presence, on the other hand, might endanger her.

"Is Obi-Wan going to protect you? He can't…he can't help you. He's not strong enough," Anakin declared. It was a little insulting to be told that he wasn't strong enough and he still didn't understand what Padmé apparently needed to be protected _from_.

"Anakin, all I want is your love," Padmé said desperately.

"Love won't save you, Padmé. Only my new powers can do that," Anakin claimed.

Obi-Wan's blood boiled. His 'new powers'? His new powers to murder innocent children? Changing alignment didn't automatically do a damn thing to one's strength. And any boost that letting anger fuel you the dark side might give was counteracted by the loss of focus and impulse-control.

"At what cost? You're a good person," Padmé cried out. "Don't do this."

A good person? Maybe once but not anymore.

"I won't lose you the way I lost my mother!" Anakin thundered.

Even if he didn't lose her to death, did he really think that someone as morally upright as Padmé would stand by him while he terrorized the galaxy? Death was one of the kindest ways to lose someone.

"I've become more powerful than any Jedi ever dreamed of," Anakin boasted, "and I've done it for you. To protect you."

Oh, he shouldn't have told her that. Who would want to hear that her love turned someone so evil that he saw nothing wrong with murdering children?

Padmé chose not to address this in favor of continuing to try to save the father of her children. "Come away with me. Help me raise our child. Leave everything else behind while we can."

Obi-Wan knew that this wouldn't work. After all, once you start down that dark path, forever will it dominate your-

"You feel really strongly about this, don't you?" Anakin said thoughtfully.

Padmé's jaw dropped. "O-Of course it does! I love you, Anakin, but I can't stand by you if you stay a Sith. It's not just me I have to think of anymore and I don't want our child exposed to that kind of thing."

"But I'm trying to save _you_, Padmé," Anakin actually pouted.

Obi-Wan was amazed.

" 'Save' me?" Padmé repeated. "From what?"

Anakin sighed. "We've been over this, Padmé. I don't want you to die in childbirth."

Padmé winced. "Please tell me this isn't about your nightmare. Because I can understand how that might freak you out but it can't possibly justify even _half_ of this!"

"I really wish you would take my nightmares more seriously, Padmé," Anakin said, frowning. "I mean, they're recurring and the last time I had recurring dreams that someone that I loved was going to die my mother was tortured to death."

"Well…yes," Padmé admitted. "But Anakin, your dreams just seem like basic childbirth to me."

"You were in a _lot_ of pain," Anakin argued.

"And giving birth is one of the most painful experiences a human can go through," Padmé countered. "But it's pretty safe. _Especially_ if I'm in a decent medical facility and not out here in the middle of nowhere."

Anakin's frown deepened. "Then what are you doing here? We've got to get you to a planet that's equipped to dealing with pregnancy!"

"What, so _now _you care about doing what's best for the baby?" Padmé demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"I've _always_ cared about what's best for the baby," Anakin insisted. "And dying in childbirth with you or losing a mother when it's born is _not_ what's best for it."

"And what do you call all of this then?" Padmé asked, gesturing all around her.

Anakin's brow furrowed. "I don't follow."

"Anakin, you know how stress is very bad for the baby and for me both?" Padmé asked sweetly.

"I did not but that does make sense," Anakin replied.

"Well do you know what is _really really super stressful_?" Padmé pressed.

"I-" Anakin started to say.

"Watching the Republic that's been standing through thousands of years and for which you've given half of your life crumble and the Sith taking control because your husband wants to save you from childbirth!" Padmé shouted.

Wait…_husband_? How had they managed that one? No one would marry a Jedi so did they manage to give him good enough fake records to get him married? If it wasn't under his own name then it wasn't legal and _everyone_ had heard the name Anakin Skywalker by now.

Anakin looked down. "I really think that you're overreacting…"

"If anything, I'm _under-reacting_," Padmé disagreed. "Anakin, really, if your goal in this is to make sure that I make it through childbirth then – I hate to tell you – you did everything wrong."

"Well…Palpatine promised that he could use the dark side to keep you alive," Anakin told her.

"And you believed him?" Padmé couldn't believe it and, honestly, Obi-Wan couldn't either. "Anakin, he's a Sith and has been lying about that and about caring about the Republic for longer than you've been alive!"

"Well…yeah," Anakin conceded. "He has. But I sort of figured that his promise gave me better odds than doing nothing."

"Chances are I wouldn't have even _needed_ my life to be saved if you didn't do this," Padmé pointed out.

"But my dreams-" Anakin started to say.

"Have you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy, Anakin?" Padmé inquired. "You fought so hard to stop what you saw that you ended up causing it to come to pass."

"No," Anakin cried out desperately. His eyes began to glow. "No, I can't lose you!"

"Well calming down and getting rid of the evil eyes might be a good starting point," Padmé suggested. "Now listen, what I need – what I _really _need – to give me as stress-free a labor as is possible right now is to know that you're not still a Sith. Do you think you can do that for me?"

Anakin looked torn. "I don't know…if I go back on being a Sith now then why would Palpatine save you?"

"I won't _need_ saving," Padmé replied.

Anakin looked unconvinced.

"Just don't tell him until after I survive and he'll never know," Padmé promised.

"And then what?" Anakin asked him, hope in his voice for the first time since…Obi-Wan couldn't even remember how long it had been. "Then we can just go someplace and raise our child in peace?"

"For a little while," Padmé agreed.

Anakin was frowning again. "What do you _mean_ for a little while?"

"Well there is no place in this galaxy that's safe for our child as long as Palpatine is still in control of everything," Padmé said reasonably. "And I won't have my child growing up in tyranny. After I give birth and stay with the baby for awhile, I'm going to need to join the resistance."

"With a baby?" Anakin asked, aghast.

"I can't just wait for the empire to further entrench itself while our child grows up!" Padmé insisted. "I know it's not ideal but, well, this is the situation we find ourselves in."

Anakin was quiet for a moment. "How about this?" he asked finally. "You and I will leave this place and get you someplace that's safe for you to deliver the baby without Palpatine finding you. Then after I make sure that you both are going to be okay, I'll go find Palpatine and I'll kill him."

"Wait, what?"

It took Obi-Wan a moment to realize that that bewildered cry had come from him.

Anakin and Padmé both glanced up at him, startled.

"What are you doing here?" Anakin asked, annoyed.

"I was looking for you and she wouldn't tell me where you were," Obi-Wan said impatiently. "But getting back to the part where you're going to renounce your Sith Master?"

"Oh, well, I don't _really_ like the thought of an empire," Anakin explained. "And if I don't need it for Padmé to live then I'm willing to get rid of it."

"By _yourself_?" Padmé asked, horrified. "That sounds too dangerous."

Anakin shrugged. "Obi-Wan can help me. And I'm sure that Master Yoda's still around somewhere and maybe some more people. We'll work with what we have."

"Yoda is still on Coruscant," Obi-Wan admitted. "He's trying to kill Palpatine now."

"See, there you go," Anakin said, pleased. "If he succeeds then all the better for us and if not then the three of us should be able to win no problem. Master Windu had almost killed him when I…arrived and…distracted him."

Obi-Wan would bet his life that that wasn't the whole story.

"You can't just turn evil and kill younglings and then decide that you're 'over it' and come back to the side of the light!" he protested. "It's just not done!"

Anakin raised his eyebrows. "I can't?"

"This might not be my place but…Obi-Wan, it's not conventional of course but wouldn't you rather have Anakin on your side trying to fix this than insist that he's evil forever?" Padmé asked reasonably.

Obi-Wan sighed. "I suppose you're right. We can't afford to be picky now with so many of us killed off by clones."

"So many _inexplicably_ killed off by clones," Anakin corrected. "Seriously, I don't understand how that worked. We deflect blaster fire all the time."

"Try not to judge the tragically murdered, Anakin," Obi-Wan said tiredly.

"No promises," Anakin replied.

Padmé winced, her hand flying instinctively to her stomach. "Oh…"

"What is it?" Anakin asked, instantly alert.

"I think I'm going into labor," Padmé told them.

"Quick, let's get you…somewhere…there will be a map on the ship!" Anakin cried out, taking Padmé's hand and helping her towards the ship. He glanced back at Obi-Wan. "So are you coming or what?"

"I…yes, I'm coming," Obi-Wan said, trying and failing to process what had just happened. "But I don't fully trust this so I'll be watching you."

Anakin just rolled his eyes. "So what else is new?"

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